By Elizabeth Culliford

(Reuters) – Zoom, a video-conferencing platform has joined a U.S.-based counterterrorism group that includes Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:). Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:) The company stated on Wednesday.

This is the latest expansion to the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, an independent group that allows members to share information to fight terrorism on their websites.

Zoom Video Communications (NASDAQ:) Inc saw its usage rise during the COVID-19 epidemic, but it has experienced slowing growth over recent months. It is now under investigation about how to control content and abusive behavior on its platform.

GIFCT has stated it is looking to expand its membership companies. It added five platforms in 2015, including the home-rental giant Airbnb and social network Tumblr. The GIFCT now boasts 18 members, and plans to add more in 2022.

While tech companies are often criticized for not preventing violent extremist activities on their platforms they have also been criticised over concerns about free speech.

GIFCT was founded in 2017 by the U.S. government and European governments following several deadly terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels. The founding members of GIFCT were Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter (NYSE:), as well as Alphabet’s YouTube (NASDAQ:).

A hash-sharing group is managed by the members. Members can use “hashes” to create unique numerical representations for original content. This hash can be shared with other companies for identifying the same content, and allowing them to review it or remove it.

Josh Parecki from Zoom, Zoom’s Associate General Counsel for Trust and Safety, stated in a statement that “It is our duty to support our customers and protect them from online threats.” We want to make the digital age safer by collaborating with industry leaders, learning from each other, and sharing our research.

Zoom experienced high-profile moderation concerns as people and companies used video-conferencing apps to communicate during COVID-19 lockdown.

These included abusive actions such as “zoombombing”, where users uninvited crash calls to share hate speech or violent content with others, to cancellations of virtual events featuring Leila Khane, who is part of the U.S. State Department list of terrorist groups.

Nicholas Rasmussen, Executive Director of GIFCT said that Zoom was a great addition to its team. His mission requires him “to work with diverse companies…to create cross-platform solutions which render terrorists and violent extremists impervious across the internet.”

GIFCT was criticized by some digital and human rights activists for its central or broad censorship. There has been a call for more transparency.

In July, it expanded the reach of its hash sharing database to include attack manifestos as well as other publications. URLs were also added by Tech Against Terrorism. Additionally, it stated that the organization would expand its database to include audio files hashes and symbols.

GIFCT announced Wednesday that it had created a new structure for its membership based on revenue from companies. The suggested annual contributions ranged between $0 and $1 million. The GIFCT stated that membership is not dependent on revenue.

Reddit is also a member of this group, as Snap’s Snapchat-owner Snap (NYSE :). Verizon Communications (NASDAQ:) and Dropbox file-sharing service (NASDAQ:).